Woman Rushing to Hospital to Give Birth Killed in Crash, 'Little Miracle' Baby Survives
A 26-year-old woman looking forward to being a new mom died in a tragic collision on her way to deliver her baby at a hospital in Missouri last Wednesday. Doctors, however, managed to save her baby who has now been dubbed a "little miracle."
According to the Southeast Missourian, the woman, Sarah Iler of Cape Girardeau, was trying to follow her doctor's advice and carry the baby girl, Maddyson, for as long as possible because there was some concern she would be born too small.
When Sarah joined her estranged husband, Matt Rider, in his Red Chevrolet Blazer Wednesday morning, she was ready to be a mom, her sister, Kasandra Iler, told the newspaper.
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At 8:04 a.m. a tanker truck struck a Nissan sport utility vehicle which hit the vehicle she was traveling in on Interstate 55 in Cape Girardeau.
The Blazer overturned and threw both her and her husband. Kansandra said Sarah was killed on impact, but firefighters and EMTs rushed to give her CPR in a bid to save Maddyson.
At Saint Francis Medical Center, doctors performed an emergency C-section on Sarah and were able to save Maddyson who weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces at birth.
"The thought never once entered my head that that baby might die," Kasandra said. "I felt my sister gave her life to save this baby. That's how God wanted it. We've been calling her our little miracle."
Kasandra said on Friday Maddyson was taken off a ventilator which she was placed on since her birth. The little miracle opened her eyes and grabbed a nurse's finger, she said. The family is now praying that she suffered no brain damage as a result of being deprived of oxygen while she was still being carried by her mother's lifeless body.
Sarah's husband, who is recovering at a different hospital, broke all of his limbs as well as a few ribs during the crash. He has undergone several surgeries as well.
Sarah's sisters, Kansandra and Amanda West, and her mother, Patricia Knight, are waiting to see what happens with both Maddyson and Rider but they are not sure yet who will take responsibility for Maddyson.
"She had her whole life ahead of her," Knight told the Southeast Missourian of her daughter. "And now the baby has to grow up without her mother. ... Amanda, it's like she's lost her other half. You can't tell Amanda and Sarah apart in a lot of pictures."
A Gofundme page set up by the family to help with funeral expenses and raising baby Maddyson, has raised more than $8,000 so far.
"Sarah was extremely excited to become a mother for the first time. She was a great friend, fun loving aunt, and a crazy cousin. She was the BEST sister you could ask for. She was always willing to help anyone that she could. She was always there with a shoulder to cry on and listened to everything," said the description of the departed mother. "She was always willing to do anything crazy to make you laugh. Anyone who knows her knows she had a smile on her face. Sarah was very outspoken and stubborn. Those are the things we loved about her."
"Sarah, she just touched everybody's life," her mother told the Missourian. "She was just amazing."
